On Friday, the news of Olin Kreutz’s departure from the Saints came out of the blue. The 14th-year player, who had spent all of his career before 2011 with the Bears, decided that he had lost his passion for the game, and that he didn’t want to simply collect a paycheck.
Despite swirling rumors that Kreutz’s exit was preceded by a scuffle of some type with offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, the reality is that Kreutz and the team made a mutual decision to part ways after a review of the film indicated that Brian de la Puente was the better option.
De la Puente started a pair of games this year while Kreutz was injured, and the team planned to move forward with de la Puente as the starter. Kreutz didn’t want to be paid at a rate of $2 million for the season ($117,647 per week) if he wasn’t a factor.
So both sides decided to move on, and Kreutz is now moving out.
Since he was waived by the team, Kreutz could choose to collect his checks not from the bench but from home. If he means what he said, however, he won’t be exercising his right to receive the balance of his salary as termination pay.